Schroders announces Matthew Dobbs’ succession plan
Mr Dobbs will retire from fund management in 2021 after almost 40 years at the firm.
Schroders today announces that Matthew Dobbs will retire from fund management in 2021 after almost 40 years at the firm.
This marks the execution of Schroders’ long-term succession strategy for Matthew Dobbs which has been planned over a number of years. Mr Dobbs is handing over portfolio management responsibilities for his Asia funds to Richard Sennitt, supported by Abbas Barkhordar, and his Global and International Small Cap funds to Bob Kaynor, Luke Biermann and Alex Deane.
The transition, which will start in early 2021, is set to ensure investment continuity for all clients and will also demonstrate Schroders’ commitment to promoting and supporting its in-house investment talent, as well as its depth of investment expertise. Matthew Dobbs will remain at the firm as an advisor to the two investment businesses before his retirement by the end of 2021.
Mr Dobbs, who has spent the whole of his career at Schroders after joining in 1981, is a renowned Asian and Small Companies investment expert, having been Schroders’ Head of Global Small Companies since 2000.
In addition to managing the Schroders Asian Alpha Plus Fund, he has been instrumental in helping grow the assets of two investment trusts, Schroder AsiaPacific Fund plc and Schroder Oriental Income Fund Limited, since their launches in 1995 and 2005, into FTSE 250 Companies.
Mr Dobbs’s specialist Asian portfolios will be managed by long standing colleague Richard Sennitt assisted by Emerging Markets and Frontier Markets Specialist Abbas Barkhordar. Richard Sennitt is an established fund manager having run the successful Schroder Asian Income Fund since inception.
Robin Parbrook, who has extensive Asian investment management experience, will assume investment oversight for the Asia funds and take the investment reporting line of Richard Sennitt and Abbas Barkhordar.
Furthermore, Mr Dobbs’s Global and International Small Cap investment management responsibilities will also transition over the course of the first quarter of 2021 to Bob Kaynor and Luke Biermann for Global Small Cap, and Luke Biermann and Alex Deane for International Small Cap.
Chris Taylor will be taking on the role of Head of Global and International Small Companies, covering strategic management responsibilities for the team. Following this carefully-managed transition, Matthew Dobbs will remain as an adviser to both investment teams to ensure maximum continuity for clients.
